High Performance Leadership

Do you have someone you can tell anything to? Are you also willing to listen to anything that they have to say to you? Even when it is about you? Centered leaders build the kinds of relationships that are filled with open and honest communication. And some of those relationships are more meaningful, more close than others. Since leaders require honest feedback -- the kind that doesn't spare any feelings because the feelings are already secure -- it's important to build a relationship with a trusted advisor. Someone you trust more than anyone else because you are sure that they always have your best interests in mind. A trusted advisor is reliable even when you disagree. Reliable as a friend. Reliable as unselfish in the moment. Reliable in looking out for your best interests. And when you disagree you can do that with respect, with compassion, and with honesty. It's possible that your advisor is wrong. And isn't it also possible that they are right? -- Dougl...

How firm are you in your commitment to your vision? In my over 25 years of business I have read hundreds of visions that were so abstract that they couldn't inspire even the most dedicated of followers. Or, they were so long that no one could remember them. And, don't assume that the upper executives do a better job of remembering and embracing their company vision, because many of them can't remember them or distinguish them from those of other companies. It doesn't have to be that way. You can have a memorable, actionable, vision that inspires you and others. Something that you can really get your figurative arms around and love. Something that instantly explains who you are as an organization. If you don't have that already, I urge you to do whatever it takes to get it. Keep it short (frankly, ten words is long enough and shorter is even better). Keep it specific. Make it count. Keep listening to others in your organization. Find out what your customers a...

What stands in your way? What prevents you from achieving your goals? The bigger your goal, the more likely that obstacles will spring up. Sometimes they are very real and very formidable. At other times they simply look formidable but amount to small walls that are easily overcome -- once the effort is made. How do you overcome an obstacle? The first step is to recognize it. Acknowledge it. Admit it. And then clearly define what exactly it is that is standing in your way. Did you put it there? Is it something that you secretly want and so have done nothing to overcome? Did someone else put it there and was it intentional or not? What function does the obstacle play? Will anyone else miss that thing standing in your way if you get rid of it once and for all? Will you need help? Will you stay with the effort even if working toward overcoming that obstacle brings about side effects? The art of leadership is overcoming the obstacles to your plan without creating harm. If...

How wide is your circle of influence? Do you have someone you can call to help you solve a problem, no matter what that problem is? We're faced as leaders with accomplishing great things. We're faced constantly with doing more with less, with improving performance, with making things better, smarter and faster. None of that is easy. Little of that can be done alone. We need help. High performance leaders are always expanding their influence.  Developing relationships. Doing favors. Listening intently. Lending a helping hand. Supporting worthy organizations. Achieving noble goals. Helping other people with their projects. Constantly learning. Taking responsibility. Those types of things are much more important than a latest blog posting or tweet. Face to face human help is priceless and builds our influence -- not so that we can help our own careers, but so that we can join in doing great things to make this a better world. Sound good to you? What can you ...

What is the most important tool for a leader? How can a project manager herd all the cats needed to get the project done to specification, on budget, and on time? Through influence. Building strong relationships able to respond quickly to needs. Delivering constantly on promises so that promised are owed. Helping others and thanking them meaningfully when they help you. The most important tool for a project manager is influence. Understanding people so that they will take the time to understand you. Figuring out what they are about so that what you are about matters. Appealing to a person's desires not to manipulate them but because you sincerely care about those desires, those dreams, those visions What are you doing to build influence today? -- Douglas Brent Smith  

Do you ever find yourself polarized, stuck where you are, because where you are going seems so uncertain? Should you take that big step, make that big decision, launch that unstoppable change? Leadership is often filled with uncertainty. We don't quite know the outcome. We feel that twinge of doubt or fear. Centered leaders push forward. What we can't be uncertain about is our ability to prevail. We must be certain that in finding our balance, finding our center, and seeking noble goals that we will achieve what is best. It may not even be always what we planned for, but we will find better outcomes. Centered leaders show the courage to move forward when the outcome is uncertain. With solid values. With centered focus. With calm resolve. Persistence pays, when courage takes the wheel. -- Douglas Brent Smith

Did you ever wish for a different team? Maybe a team with all of the top talent. Maybe a team with perfect dynamics and top performers who achieved every goal and drove you to new places. Of course. We want high performance teams. We want to achieve our goals. We want innovation that old teams never achieved and current teams seam to struggle with. Still, our team is our team. Short of dismantling it and starting over (which some leaders do choose to do) it is up to us instead to help our team grow into the team we are most proud of. The team of our own dream. The art of leadership is making the most of the team that you have. All of its strengths. All of its challenges. All of its capacity. Centered leaders guide their teams to the next level of success. We don't simply ride on their backs barking orders. We must go the distance. We must: - coach them patiently - involve them constantly - empower them fearlessly - account for them vigorously - inspire them cour...

What you do matters. How you solve problems, how you achieve your goals -- it all fits into the big picture somehow. It all goes to your own answers to the big questions. What will you do today about that? Will the world have more or fewer problems because of what you do? That's something I'll be thinking about today. How about you? -- Douglas Brent Smith

Have you ever hidden from what's good for you? Do you ever find yourself in a box of your own design? I can get defensive sometimes. A piece of criticism heads my way, and I'm not only ducking, I'm swatting it away like a nuisance. Full red alert keeps me from getting what I need to hear. Not always, but sometimes I'm not feeling secure enough to look at my own opportunity for improvement. Do you ever find yourself hiding from your mistakes? What do you think happens as a result? Here's what I learned about that: If you want help with a problem, be willing to look at your own mistakes without getting defensive. How else can you ever fix them? How else will people be willing to take the risk of communicating openly and honestly with you? Feeling defensive is normal -- acting defensive is a choice. -- Douglas Brent Smith

Are you the first person to know when you've got a problem? Or, are you somewhere further down the list? Dorinda often says "recognition is the boobie prize..." meaning that while self-knowledge is valuable, it doesn't solve your problem. It's a good start, though. Recognizing a problem is a positive step toward solving it. Once we know that a situation is ready for change, we can set about changing it. That doesn't guarantee that a solution will be easy to find, but at least we'll start looking. There are positive ways to do this. Positive ways to become self-aware faster and get started earlier: - Encourage more feedback from people. Whether or not we like the feedback, it can sometimes help. - Keep score of your own results. Is your performance growing? Or, is there unstated opportunity? - Test your assumptions. Just because things are quiet doesn't mean a storm isn't brewing. Check. These aren't the only ways to recognize a ...

Have you ever thought of the perfect solution to a problem -- only to discover that it wasn't much of a solution after all? The excitement builds, the light bulbs shine, the energy flows, and then -- moments or days later it just doesn't seem valuable at all. That's nothing to fear. When we are generating ideas it is easy to fall in love with a few. That doesn't make them bad, but it doesn't necessarily mean they will solve your problem, either. Let them rise to your attention. Let them keep you charged up. And then evaluate them fairly using the criteria you've already set up for a solution. Centered problem solvers need the passion and energy of creativity AND the logic and focus of clarity. Know what you're looking for and it becomes SO much easier to find. When you're solving problems, remember those solutions that sounded good but didn't work? What was missing? -- clarity of purpose -- criteria for success -- stakeholder acceptance...

Do you ever worry about using up your creativity? There's no need: you have an unlimited supply. Maybe it hides sometimes (mine does, like a funky little mouse who will only come out for a cookie) and maybe it goes days on end invisible, but it is still there, as deep as ever, and available for you. When we need to solve problems, when we need new ways to achieve our goals, when we need to make something more fun or interesting so that people will get involved, our creativity is there waiting to activate something wonderful. Sing the song. Draw the picture. Dance the dance. Your creativity is unlimited. Learn more, do more, rinse and repeat.   The fun, the brilliance, the excitement is yours for the taking. -- Douglas Brent Smith